Louisiana Purchase

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Transcript of Louisiana Purchase

1803 The Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase How many future states were acquired in this purchase? Imagine that America did not own any land west of the Mississippi River. How would this change the United States today? In May 1803, President Jefferson bought 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River.

This land was purchased from the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte for $15 million

This translates to about 3 cents an acre! What was the Louisiana Purchase? 1 square mile= 640 acres1 acre = about 1 football field

828,000 square miles would be how many acres...?. How BIG is a square mile? Brain Bump So just how amazing was this deal? The Louisiana Purchase was considered to be one of the greatest real estate deals in history!

Jefferson paid $15 million total for the land. Would France offer a similar deal today for so much land?

We must take inflation into account.

What cost $15 million in 1803 would cost $225,972,106.22 in 2012. 529,920,000 acres! The cost of an average acre of land out West today can be estimated at $1,500 Knowing this we can take the amount of acres acquired from the Louisiana Purchase (529,920,000 acres) and multiply it by ..................... The estimated cost of Western land today is … $794,880,000,000 for 529,920,000 acres! Mr. Frobose's math calculates that... What a fantastic deal! Whats a better price?

Paying $225,972,106.22 (millions) in 1803

or $794,880,000,000 (billions) in 2012? Brain Bump Why would France ever sell this territory in the first place? Napoleon's Quest While most of Napoleon's plans focused on Europe, America had a special place in the Little Corporal's heart. His first step was to force a weak Spain to return the Louisiana Territory to France, which it did in 1800.

The second step was to regain control of the Caribbean island of St. Domingue. To launch any attack in North America, Napoleon needed this island as a base so he sent 20,000 soldiers to retake it. Jefferson's Reaction With the French scurrying around in America's backyard, President Jefferson became alarmed. He knew that French control of New Orleans and the western territories would create an overwhelming threat to America. Jefferson had an option play ready...

Although he preferred neutrality between the warring European nations, Jefferson dropped hints to the British about an alliance against the French, and found them receptive. At the same time, he offered to buy New Orleans and Florida from France.

This sale seemed unlikely until the French army sent to St. Domingue was practically wiped out by yellow fever after regaining control of the island. Napoleon's Offer Without the safe base on the island, a French adventure into Louisiana was out of the question. Napoleon decided to forget about conquering the New World. What he needed now was troops and money.

Napoleon decided to sell not only New Orleans and Florida but the whole Louisiana Territory to America. The Louisiana Purchase Treaty was then signed on April 30, 1803. This purchase would almost double America in size.

With all this uncharted land, Jefferson would need explorers to map out the new western frontier... How much would the land cost today?